Anthony Weiner: timeline of a scandal

Democrat congressman Anthony Weiner has admitted that he sent a lewd picture of himself to a 21-year-old student, and had engaged in half a dozen "inappropriate" online relationships with other women. Here is a timeline of the scandal:

May 27: A photograph showing a man's crotch is sent to a young woman from the Twitter account of Anthony Weiner. It is quickly deleted and in a subsequent tweet Mr Weiner jokes: "Tivo shot. FB hacked. Is my blender gonna attack me next? #TheToasterIsVeryLoyal."

May 28: A Twitter user who has discovered the photograph shares it with his followers and alerts the conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart. Mr Weiner says on Twitter that his Facebook account has been hacked. Breitbart's website, BigGovernment.com, publishes the photograph.

May 2: A spokesman for Mr Weiner says, "Anthony's accounts were obviously hacked."

May 30: A spokesman says Mr Weiner has asked a lawyer to look into the matter and determine if civil or criminal actions against a hacker should be taken. Mr Weiner tells CNN: "I was hacked. It happens to people; you move on."

May 31: Mr Weiner has a tense exchange with reporters, declining to answer questions about the Twitter photograph and saying it is time to focus on more important issues. "I'm not going to allow this to be what I talk about all week," he says.

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June 1: Mr Weiner gives interviews about the photo message to several news media outlets. He denies sending the photograph but tells MSNBC that he cannot "say with certitude" that it is not of him. He tells ABC News, "I was the victim of this."

June 2: Mr Weiner says he won't answer any more questions on the issue.

June 6: BigGovernment.com posts additional photographs and e-mails that it says were sent by Mr Weiner to an unidentified woman. Radaronline and Star publish transcripts of sexually explicit conversations that supposedly took place between Mr Weiner and young women he met online through Facebook. At a news conference, a tearful Mr Weiner acknowledges that he sent the original photograph and that it is a picture of him. He also says he sent other inappropriate and explicit photos and messages to women he met over the Internet. "I came here to accept the full responsibility for what I've done," he says. "I am deeply regretting what I have done, and I am not resigning." He apologises to his family and his constituents.